A Center of Orature and Performance named after this intellectual icon would not only honor Professor Okpewho's contributions to Africana Studies and the Humanities in general, but would also help galvanize a new generation of scholars to take the study of orature to a new level. The relevance of Okpewho's work is not limited to African literature. No Nigerian scholar has made a better case for the validity of orality in African history than Okpewho. He was also an anthropologist, among others. His fieldwork, and the theoretical sophistication of his scholarship are of superior quality.
It was by chance in graduate school that I attended one of his seminars at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, in 1989 or 1990. I remember him saying that most of his fieldwork projects were self-financed or foreign-finance. He mentioned one incident of pittance that he received from the University of Ibadan in form of research grant. Until that time, I had not read any of his works. It was only when I arrived in the US that I came across his books and began to follow his scholarship. Looking back, I think we missed a lot in the way we blindly copy Western academic boundaries in Nigerian and other African institutions. None of his writings was assigned in my undergraduate and graduate classes (in history, anthropology, and archaeology), both at UI and Ife, even in orality and historical memory courses. Maybe, I was just unlucky. Others may have a different experience. But I don't think we have taken the cross-fertilization of methods, theories, and conceptualization of research questions across our borrowed artificial disciplinary boundaries beyond the usual programmatic slogans of decolonization. Unfortunately, much has not changed today. This occasion calls for a sense of renewal using the body of Professor Okpewho's scholarship as a springboard. The center would provide the platform for scholars in both the humanities and social sciences to develop new works that cut across disciplinary boundaries. Ibadan should surely take a leadership role in this endeavor. There could also be a peer center at Binghamton named for him.
Akin Ogundiran
UNC Charlotte
On Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at 6:52:42 PM UTC-4, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
How about the Isidore Okpewho Center of Orature and Performance?
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries onAfrica and the African Diaspora
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com > on behalf of Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2016 8:25 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obituary: isidore Okpewho--University of Orature and performance? Na waya! Perhaps an "Isidore Okpewho Center for the Study of the Humanities at Ibadan," his alma mater, where he also did some of his most accomplished work.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com > on behalf of Bosoma Sheriff <bosom...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2016 9:15 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obituary: isidore OkpewhoIt's sad. But he has left a profound legacy in the field of oral literature and performance studies-a feat that is best celebrated by establishing a university of orature and performance, or something of that nature somewhere in Africa with his name engrave in silver.Bosoma SheriffUniversity of Maiduguri--
On 6 September 2016 at 15:27, Elias Bongmba <ebon...@gmail.com> wrote:
I am very saddened this morning to read about the home going of Professor Isidore Okpewho. He was a brilliant scholar and wonderful person. I loved teaching his works in my classes. His book Myth in Africa remains the locus classicus in the field. He will be missed. May his soul rest in peace.
Elias Kifon Bongmba
--
On Mon, Sep 5, 2016 at 6:19 AM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
--I bring sad news.
Professor Isidore Okpewho, our great friend, teacher, and mentor died yesterday. I just spoke with his wife, and funeral arrangements are being made for September. Orations to follow.
It was a privilege for me to interact with this great scholar, publishing his last major book in my University of Rochester's Series, Blood on the Tides: The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology. He completed this book while sick. A masterpiece, I will talk about this great book after I recover from this shock.
A man of grace and elegance, it was always a delight to be with him. I visited him and his wife at their home in Binghamton, where we discussed his collected essays which I also promised to publish for him.
I will attend his funeral service and report back.Toyin Falola
Toyin FalolaDepartment of HistoryThe University of Texas at Austin104 Inner Campus DriveAustin, TX 78712-0220USA512 475 7224512 475 7222 (fax)
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